ABSTRACT

Title of Dissertation: SELECTED WORKS OF COMPOSERS ASSOCIATED WITH HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Guericke Christopher Royal, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2018

Dissertation directed by: Professor Chris Gekker School of Music

Throughout its over 100 year history, Howard University has produced and attracted many talented composers of many musical genres. Limiting this project to any one genre or focus would have lessened the overall impact of the music they created and the inspiration that has been a lauded part of the institution. The project will demonstrate the various harmonic, melodic, rhythmic and emotional contributions of the selected composers through interpretation of their music on the trumpet.

Composers have been connected to the university in three general ways: as students, alumni and faculty; as commissioned artists; and through the performance of their works by notable performers associated with Howard. The pieces selected for this project exemplify a wide range of musical expressions and compositional techniques, and hopefully have been presented in a way that allows the emotional impact of each piece to resonate in a unique fashion.

The selected works tended to fall into the categories of

A. Trumpet and Brass Works

B. Spirituals/ Meditational/ Religious Works

C. Popular and Jazz Pieces

D. Organ or other Instrumental Works

E. Works of Historical Reference or Significance

In some cases, certain pieces may be categorized across multiple categories (e.g. an organ piece based on religious material).

As this was also a recording project, great care was taken during the recording process to capture as much emotional content as possible through stereo microphone techniques and the use of high quality equipment.

The group of works examined and set for the CD is but one example of Howard

University’s musical legacy. Additional collections of selected works of composers associated with Howard University could, and should, be created by others to further reinterpret more of this underperformed, yet highly valuable music.

SELECTED WORKS OF COMPOSERS ASSOCIATED WITH HOWARD UNIVERSITY

by

Guericke Christopher Royal

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park. In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts 2018

Advisory Committee:

Professor Chris Gekker, Chair Dr. Daniel Falvey Dr. Sarah Frisof Professor Mark Hill Professor Greg Miller

© Copyright by Guericke Christopher Royal 2018

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the Department of Music at Howard University (Dr. Anthony

Randolph, Chair) for their cooperation in the production of the recording. Thanks to Dr.

Adele Lynch at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church for use of the sanctuary for organ recordings. Many thanks to Professor Chris Gekker for his much appreciated guidance and support. To the performers who assisted, it was a pleasure to work with you all. I am honored by everyone’s participation and contributions, both large and small, in this process.

And to Klara and Galen: without your unwavering patience, support and love, this project would never have materialized.

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ...... ii

Table of Contents ...... iii

List of Tables ...... v

Introduction ...... 1

Trumpet Literature ...... 2

Composers’ Connection to Howard University ...... 3

The Pieces ...... 4

The Performers ...... 8

The Venues ...... 9

CD Listing and Program Notes ...... 9 Variations for Trumpet (1981) ...... 9 Prelude on St. Martin’s (ca. 2000) ...... 10 Meditation (1983) ...... 11 After You’ve Gone (1918) ...... 12 Scenes From History For Voice And Violin (2012) ...... 13 Spiritual Fantasy No. 1 For Piccolo Trumpet In A and Piano (2007) ...... 17 Killing Me Softly With His Song (1973)...... 18 Steal Away (Arrangement ca. 1921) ...... 20 Three Fanfares For Four Trumpets (1963) ...... 22 Tromba, Suite For Bb Trumpet And Piano (1980) ...... 23 Whisper Not (1956) ...... 24 Arietta (1957) ...... 25 “Deadly Seduction” from Macabre Suite (1982) ...... 26

Conclusion ...... 27

Musical Sources ...... 29

Appendices ...... 30

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Appendix I. Other Notable Alumni Composers ...... 30 Appendix II. Recording Information ...... 31 Appendix III. Composers’ Biographies ...... 34

Bibliography ...... 54

iv

List of Tables

Table of Works and Categories- page 5

v Introduction

Founded in 1867, Howard University has a rich musical history which may be

traced to 1870, when a few courses were offered. In 1892, the music program

was organized as a stable department of the Normal School, and in 1914 it

was established as an independent conservatory. The School of Music (now

Department of Music) was admitted to membership in the National

Association of Schools of Music in 1942, the first music program in the

Washington, DC area to gain such membership. In January 1974, the School

of Music was reorganized as a department in the College of Fine Arts. With

the merger of the College of Fine Arts into the College of Arts and Sciences in

August 1998, the Department of Music became one of three departments in

the Division of Fine Arts within the College of Arts and Sciences.1

Howard University’s rich musical legacy has produced many successful performers in many genres. Various notable alumni performers would include Leontyne

Price (operatic soprano), Richard Smallwood (Gospel music performer and choir director), The Blackbyrds (Rhythm and Blues ensemble), Harold Wheeler (Musical

Director for the Oscars Television broadcasts and noted Broadway orchestrator), and

Wallace Roney (Jazz trumpeter), to name only a few.2

The touted performance legacy tends to overshadow the numerous composers also produced by the music school, and other composers and writers who have had significant

1 “History and Mission.” Howard University Department of Music. (accessed February 12, 2018, http://coas.howard.edu/music/mission/index.html) 2 Ibid.

impact on the world of music through association with the university and its graduates.

This project examines only a few works of these composers, whose compositions have been selected to demonstrate a vast range of musical contributions, as interpreted through performance on the trumpet.

Trumpet Literature

The solo repertoire of the trumpet is relatively limited compared to that of voice, piano, strings and many woodwind instruments. The evolution of solo trumpet literature has mainly been a consequence of the 20th century, where there was demand for new compositions or arrangement/ adaptation of existing solo repertoire from voice or other instruments. Jazz music was another major influence, when the trumpet finally replaced the cornet as the high, chromatically melodic brass voice in large ensembles and on recordings. The trumpet community has been generally open to new music that is playable and musical, no matter the source, because of that general lack of repertoire. The approach to tap different music for trumpet interpretation has implications beyond repertoire building. It also creates a sense of freedom to perform music without it being judged as “trumpet like” enough, or not. But it also allows for judging pieces by musical merits and not primarily by the instruments involved.

The selected works for the project include pieces written specifically for the trumpet: but the research of various composers and genres revealed musical richness beyond a simple category of “works for trumpet.” Indeed, the challenge has been to present a broad range works via recordings in such a way that each piece tells a different story or has a unique point of view. This is in no way the definitive list of potential works, as no great composer has only one defining opus. Instead, the desire was to

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demonstrate the music as part of one collection; and present each piece in a unique fashion while celebrating all of the various harmonic, rhythmic, melodic, and emotional strengths.

This project had its genesis in seeking to compile trumpet works written by

African American composers who had composed trumpet works commissioned by Fred

Irby, III, Professor of Trumpet at Howard University. The two well-known works he commissioned for trumpet are Ulysses Kay’s Tromba, Suite for Bb Trumpet and Piano and Frederick Tillis’ Spiritual Fantasy No. 1 for Piccolo Trumpet in A and Piano. Both pieces provide very different performance challenges. My advisor, Professor Gekker, suggested going a step further and examining all “music” written for and around Howard

University, irrespective of the original performance intentions of instrumentation, genre or formality.

Composers’ Connection to Howard University

The composers cited in this project are connected to Howard University in at least one of three general ways:

1. Student and faculty composers (past and present)

2. Composers who were commissioned to create works for student, alumn1, or faculty performers

3. Composers whose works were not commissioned by Howard faculty or alumni, but were promoted via performances by renowned faculty, students, or alumni.

1. Student and Faculty Composers

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This group of composers includes former and present students and faculty of Howard

University.

Emeritus Faculty Mark Fax

Alumnus Benny Golson

Alumnus Adolphus Hailstork

Emeritus Faculty Thomas Kerr

Alumnus Anthony Randolph

Alumnus Chris Royal

Alumnus Turner Layton

2. Commissioned Composers

Ulysses Kay

Frederick Tillis

3. Composers of Non-Commissioned Works Performed by Students and Faculty

Henry Thacker “Harry” Burleigh

Charles Fox

The Pieces

The specific pieces for this project tended to fall in five main categories:

A. Trumpet and Brass Works

B. Spirituals/ Meditational/ Religious Works

C. Popular and Jazz Pieces

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D. Organ or other Instrumental Works

E. Historical Reference or Significance

In some cases, certain works may be categorized across multiple categories. For example, the Spiritual Fantasy for Piccolo Trumpet is literally based on reinterpretation of various spirituals, while also being composed for trumpet and piano.

Title Trumpet / Spirituals/ Organ or Historical Brass Works Meditative/ Popular and Other Reference or Religious Jazz Styles Instrumental Significance Works

Tromba X

Three Fanfares for 4 X trumpets

Variations for X Trumpet

Spiritual X X X Fantasy

Steal Away X X

Mediation X X X

After You’ve X Gone

Whisper Not X

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Killing Me X X Softly

Deadly X X Seduction

Prelude on St. X X Martin’s

Arietta X X

Scenes from X History

(Table of Works and Categories)

A. Trumpet Works

Ulysses Kay’s Tromba, Suite for Bb Trumpet and Piano (1980) was commissioned by

Professor Irby. It is a work in three movements, “Prologue,” “Nocturne,” and “Mobile”

(Professor Irby’s hometown). Kay was visiting the campus when Professor Irby approached him and commissioned the work.

Additionally, Kay’s Three Fanfares for Four Trumpets (1963) was selected for this recording project as a contrasting work from his library.

Alumnus Adolphus Hailstork is a prolific composer, including composing several pieces for trumpet. The Variations for Trumpet (1981) was selected as an example of his extended writing for the unaccompanied trumpet.

Frederick Tillis’ Spiritual Fantasy No. 1 for Piccolo Trumpet in A and Piano (2007) was also commissioned by Professor Irby. Tillis’ connection to Howard was that he had been Professor Irby’s undergraduate theory professor during the 1960’s at Grambling

University is Grambling, Louisiana. This piece is based on several spirituals.

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B. Spirituals

Henry “Harry” Thacker Burleigh was well known as an arranger of spirituals, many of which were staples of choirs at Historically Black Universities and Colleges (HBCUs).

He received an Honorary DMA from Howard University in 1920. From 1892-1895 as

Antonin Dvorak’s assistant, Burleigh had been working on ways to structure spirituals as if they were western art songs. The Fisk Jubilee Singers first popularized Burleigh’s works. Burleigh’s arrangement of the spiritual Steal Away (ca.1921) was selected as being representative of his efforts to recast Negro folk songs.

Adolphus Hailstork’s Meditation (1983) was chosen as a melodic work that contrasts his Variations for Trumpet. Intended as a contemplative work, Meditation might appropriately be performed as offertory music during religious services.

C. Popular and Jazz

Alumnus Turner Layton composed the music for the song After You’ve Gone (1918) with his lyricist Henry Creamer. Although it was a very popular song during the early

1900s, the piece was (and is still) covered by groups that specialize in early jazz music.

Alumnus Benny Golson’s Whisper Not (1956) is considered a Jazz classic.

Charles Fox and Norman Gimble’s Killing Me Softly With His Song (1972) was adapted by alumna Roberta Flack. Her version was a #1 radio hit and considered a popular music staple in the 1970’s.

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Alumnus Chris Royal’s “Deadly Seduction” from the Macabre Suite (1982) is a sparse, mood setting work for flugelhorn and guitar, with minimal piano support. The work was part of a suite, originally composed to be performed by a jazz big band with a female vocalist.

D. Organ and Instrumental

Emeritus faculty Mark Fax’s Prelude on St. Martin’s is an organ work based on the

"St. Martin's" hymn tune.

Emeritus faculty Thomas Kerr’s Arietta for organ was based on the Negro Spiritual

Rise Up, Shepherds, and Follow.

E. Historical

Alumnus Anthony Randolph’s Scenes from History for Voice and Violin (2012) was adapted for trumpet performance. The work consists of short, narrated vignettes recalling four stories of the civil rights movement in America.

The Performers

Chris Royal, Bb, C, Eb and A Piccolo trumpets, flugelhorn, piano and percussion

For this project I was able to collaborate with some of the faculty and staff of Howard

University:

Laurie Bunn, piano, Staff Pianist

Kehembe Eichelberger, mezzo soprano and narration, Professor of Classical and Jazz

Voice and Coordinator of Music Business Programs

Cyrus Chestnut, piano, Professor of Jazz Piano

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Gerard Kunkel, guitars, Guitar Instructor

Mickey Thomas Terry, organ, Lecturer of Music Appreciation courses: “Blacks in the

Arts”

Charlie Young, soprano saxophone, Professor of Saxophone and Coordinator of Jazz

Studies Programs

The Venues

For the bulk of the recording, the Lulu Vere Childers recital hall at Howard

University was utilized. The hall has a capacity of 115 persons and is an intimate space with wooden slatted walls and a Steinway-B 7’ grand piano. Organ recording was done at

St. Patricks’ Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C.; and sweetening was done at Chris

Royal Production Services, my audio post production space in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The recording sessions for all pieces began in December 5, 2017 and concluded on

March 24, 2018.

CD Listing and Program Notes

Variations for Trumpet (1981) TRACK 1

Composed by Adolphus Hailstork

Personnel: Chris Royal, Bach Bb trumpet

Recorded at Chris Royal Music Production Studio

Variations for Trumpet was selected as an example of extended writing for the unaccompanied trumpet. The work is deceptively challenging to perform; any work for

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trumpet that is continuous would test the endurance of the performer. Because of the required range of articulations (accented, legato, flutter tongue, low register tonguing, bends and hand-stopped notes) the piece presents further performance challenges. Most importantly, the changes of style within the piece require the player to vary tone and timbre, while still driving forward in places or relishing in the vocalise-type playing that crosses over two or three registers. Judicious use of intervals of the 4th, 5th and octaves and changing meters keep the performer’s attention fully engaged.

Prelude on St. Martin’s (ca. 2000) TRACK 2

Composed by Mark Fax

Adapted by Chris Royal

Personnel: Chris Royal, Schagerl Tristan Rotary Piccolo Trumpet in A

Mickey Thomas Terry, Holtkamp tracker organ

Recorded at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC

Mickey Thomas Terry is not only the organist for this project, but also the editor of the

African-American Organ Music Anthology Volume 1,3 the source of the two works

Prelude on St. Martin’s and Arietta. Dr. Terry writes:

The “St. Martin's" hymn tune appears in the 1964 United Methodist

Hymnal. The hymn tune was written by William Tans'ur [1706-1783]. Professor

3 Referring to Mickey Thomas Terry ed. African-American Organ Music Anthology Volume 1. (Fenton, MO: MorningStar Music Pub., 2000).

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Fax was organist and music director of Asbury United Methodist downtown

[Washington, DC] for many years. I don't know whether it is in their current

hymnal.

The Fax work was never published prior to its appearance in the

anthology. As for the preferred organ, Mark Fax's composition style for the organ

is neo-classical in conception. A tracker (i.e. a mechanical action) organ is

preferable with that style of piece.

Kerr wrote in a more symphonic style, so an electrical action organ is

preferable. The latter plays romantic music particularly well. Such an instrument

has broad scales [large pipe sizes] voicing, which is quite the opposite of a

tracker. A tracker has narrow scales and voicing.4

The narrow tracker organ was used for this project.

Meditation (1983) TRACK 3

Composed by Adolphus Hailstork

Personnel: Chris Royal, Yamaha Bb flugelhorn

Laurie Bunn, piano

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

4 Mickey Thomas Terry, e-mail to author, March 24, 2018.

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The piece is very straightforward with its moving melodic line. Originally written to feature baritone horn, this version features the flugelhorn, sounding one octave higher with a written cadenza at the end.

After You’ve Gone (1918) TRACK 4

Composed by Turner Layton, Lyrics by Henry Creamer

Arranged by Chris Royal

Personnel: Chris Royal, Schilke S43 Bb trumpet

Charlie Young, soprano saxophone

Gerard Kunkel, guitar

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

The premise for this arrangement was an imaginary meeting of Louis Armstrong,

Sydney Bechet and Django Rheinhardt. Louis is improvising and the others simply join in. As far as I know, such a meeting never actually happened. A near connection occurred for the French language film La Route Du Bonheur (1953), in which the three iconic players appear in separate scenes: in a French recording studio (Bechet with a large swing band), on a moving train (Rheinhardt is featured and a bebop quintet is heard but not seen), and on a movie set designed to look like a New Orleans street scene (Armstrong with small 5 piece dixieland band). Armstrong, Bechet, and Rheinhardt, however, never interacted as a trio in the film.

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Scenes From History For Voice And Violin (2012) TRACK 5 Fountain Hughes TRACK 6 Emmitt Till TRACK 7 Homage to Fannie Lou Hamer TRACK 8 An American Nightmare

Composed by Anthony Randolph

Adapted by Chris Royal

Personnel: Chris Royal, Bach Bb trumpet

Kehembe Eichelberger, narrator

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University and at Chris Royal

Production Studio.

The original work was conceived for violin and male narrator. My adaptation utilizes a female voice to contrast the timbre of the trumpet. The work consists of short, narrated vignettes recalling four stories of the civil rights movement in America. The challenge with such a piece and with interpreting through a completely different instrument is a potential loss of the original emotional impact. This version may, in some sense, prove an equally complementary vehicle for the material. The trumpet used in this manner tends to evoke a different color, obviously American in nature, that adds a Blues (rather than Jazz) inflection and imparts an almost improvised sound and feel to the piece. The use of a female narrator, and one who is also interpreting the text rather than just reading, adds to the overall depth of the work and hopefully to the emotional impact of the subject matter as presented.

Dr. Randolph writes the following:

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Scenes from History, for solo violin and spoken male voice, is a four- movement work, written employing the dodecaphonic system of composition, with the matrix being constructed from a palindromic row, dominated by the minor second and tritone. The first three movements of this work are based on heart-rending events in the lives of three African-Americans.

The first movement, titled “Fountain Hughes” is based on an interview that the former slave granted Hermond Norwood, where Hughes spoke candidly and unapologetically on the horrors of slavery. The interview was conducted on June 11, 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland, when Mr. Hughes was 101 years old. The interview is housed in the repository of the American Folklife

Center.

The second movement, titled “Emmitt Till, 1955,” is based on the abduction, murder, of Till, and the subsequent trial of the accused. Emmitt

Till was just fourteen years old when was tortured and killed in Money,

Mississippi in 1955. Till was so badly beaten, that when his mother went to identify his body, he was totally unrecognizable. His mother was able to identify him only by the signet ring on his finger she had given him as a gift.

“Homage to Fannie Lou Hamer” is the title of the third movement. Fannie

Lou Hame [sic] was a civil right [sic] advocate from Mississippi. Ms. Hamer assisted in the organization of the 1964 African-American voter campaign in

Mississippi, and testified about the racial discrimination and inequality before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in

Atlantic City, NJ.

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“An American Nightmare” is the last movement of this work. This

movement speaks of slavery, lynching, and the Jim Crow laws of the southern

states. The movement ends with scriptural references of emotional healing.5

As the work was originally written for the violin, interpretation on the trumpet required the use of extended articulation techniques to offer a larger pallet of articulation as would be expected of the violin. Use of multiphonics (singing while playing to produce a third tone), note bending, flutter tonguing, scooping, mutes (Solotone, Straight and plunger) and wide skips are considered 20th century techniques for trumpet performance.

The text for the piece is as follows:

I. FOUNTAIN HUGHES

My Name Is Fountain Hughes

And I Was Born A Slave in 1848

My Grandfather Was Owned By Thomas Jefferson

Yup

It’s 1949 Now, And Um 101 Years Old

In Dem Days,

You Were Treated

Less Den A Dawg

If I Had To Go Back To Slavery Today

“I’d Take A Gun To My Head,

5 Anthony Randolph, e-mail to author, March 18, 2018

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And End It All”

II. EMMITT TILL 1955

Boy, You Ain’t Gonna See The Light Of Day Again

Emmitt Till

Kidnapped

Tortured

Murdered

Mutilated

His Body Unrecognizable

Even By His Mother

His Ear Cut Off

Eyeball Resting On His Cheek

An Axe Driven Through The Top Of His Head

Jury, What Is Your Verdict?

Not Guilty

III. HOMAGE TO FANNIE LOU HAMER

Homage to Fannie Lou Hamer

I’m Sick And Tired of Being Sick And Tired

Go Forward

Without Fear

For I Have Empowered You, Saith The Lord

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Jim Crow, Mississippi, 1964

IV. AN AMERICAN NIGHTMARE

An American Nightmare

Slavery

Jim Crow

Sam Hose Lynched

Thank You Langston

‘Cause Life Ain’t Been No Crystal Stair

My Spirit Cried Out

And God Heard My Cry

And By His Stripes

I Was Healed

Spiritual Fantasy No. 1 For Piccolo Trumpet In A and Piano (2007) TRACK 9

Composed by Frederick Tillis

Personnel: Chris Royal, Schagerl Tristan Rotary Piccolo Trumpet in A .

Laurie Bunn, piano.

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

This work was commissioned by Professor Fred Irby. Dr. Tillis’ had been Professor

Irby’s undergraduate theory professor during the 1960’s at Grambling University in

Louisiana. The piece was written as a gift to Professor Irby, commemorating the birth of

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his son, Fred Irby, IV in 1980. The composer suggested the subject matter. Professor Irby was preforming on piccolo quite frequently and mainly imparted the need for plenty of rest in the work to avoid fatigue.6

This piece is based on the spirituals Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child and

Calvary, which are quoted in sections. Fred Irby wrote, “The Fantasy is quite challenging for both the trumpeter and pianist. Tillis shared the piece with his colleagues at UMASS and they all had some concerns about the level of difficulty. He then revised it and he omitted the middle section.”7

For this recording, the publisher also provided (and we used) the 2007 version because of the performance challenges of the original 1980 version. In the 2007 version there are more and different sustained sections. It is not simply an abridged version of the

1980 original. Both versions are about the same duration in performance, with the original having a different middle section marked as “Stormy and Violent.”

Killing Me Softly With His Song (1973) TRACK 10

Composed by Charles Fox, Lyrics by Norman Gimbel

Arranged by James M. Guthrie

Personnel: Chris Royal, Yamaha Bb flugelhorn.

Laurie Bunn, piano

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

6 Fred Irby, III, e-mail to author, February 15, 2018. 7 Irby e-mail.

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Composed originally for Los Angeles bistro singer Lori Lieberman by Fox and

Gimbel,8 Killing Me Softly is one of many songs identified with, and even assumed to have been written by Howard alumna Roberta Flack.

Lieberman was the first to record it, yet Flack updated that version by changing chord structure and playing it faster than the original. Flack credits her classical training for the transformation and success of the song.9

It is notable that in the music business, after the era of the singer/songwriter and regardless of the genre, it was still common for audiences to assume the singing pianist/ guitarist was also the composer of the song.10 Like Janis Ian, Billy Joel, Nina Simone and others who all did perform their own music, Flack developed a large fanbase by singing while accompanying herself, thus feeding the public impression that she too was both composer and performer. The public’s perception of singer/composer is often now an illusion; the reality being the pressures of the music business encourage singers to perform others’ work.

Ms. Flack’s version of Killing Me Softly is included as an example of a composer/ performer who often found success through the business connection and interpretation of other composers’ works. Another example would be Shirley Horn, whose great success led many to believe that she was performing her own music. Even though Ms. Flack and

8 “Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack,” Songfacts.com, (accessed March 23, 2018, http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=71) 9 Toby Cresswell, 1001 Songs, (Hardie Grant Books, Pahran, Aus. ISBN 978-1- 74066-458-5, 2005), 388 10 Frank Hoffman, “The Singer-Songwriter Tradition,” Survey of American Popular Music, (Web Modified by Robert Birkline. Huntville, TX: Sam Houston University. accessed March 20, 2018, http://www.shsu.edu/~lis_fwh/book/hybrid_children_of_rock/Singer-Songwriters2.htm)

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Ms. Horn both studied composition at Howard, their real impact was as interpreters of existing musical material.

Steal Away (Arrangement ca. 1921) TRACK 11

Arranged by Harry T. Burleigh

Adapted by Chris Royal

Personnel: Kehembe Eichelberger, Mezzo soprano

Chris Royal, Bach Bb Trumpet

Laurie Bunn, Piano

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

Eileen Southern writes, “Harry T. Burleigh was the first black composer to be instrumental in the development of a characteristically American music and he helped to make African American music available to classically trained artists both by introducing them to the music and by arranging the music in a more classical form.”11

Songs were used in everyday life by African slaves. Singing was tradition

brought from Africa by the first slaves; sometimes their songs are called

spirituals. Singing served many purposes such as providing repetitive rhythm

for repetitive manual work, inspiration and motivation. Singing was also used to

express their values and solidarity with each other and during celebrations.

11 Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History, (W. W. Norton & Co, 1997), 284.

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Songs were used as tools to remember and communicate since the majority of

slaves could not read.

Harriet Tubman and other slaves used songs as a strategy to communicate

with slaves in their struggle for freedom. Coded songs contained words giving

directions on how to escape also known as signal songs or where to meet known

as map songs. Songs used Biblical references and analogies of Biblical people,

places and stories, comparing them to their own history of slavery. For example,

‘being bound for the land of Canaan’ for a white person could mean ready to die

and go to heaven; but to a slave it meant ready to go to Canada.12

The lyrics to Steal Away signaled that the singer is about to flee from enslavement:

Chorus: Steal away, steal away!

Steal away to Jesus?

Steal away, steal away home!

I ain’t got long to stay here!

My Lord calls me!

He calls me by the thunder!

The trumpet sound it in my soul!

I ain’t got long to stay here!

Chorus

My Lord calls me!

12 “Songs of the Underground Railroad,” Harriet Tubman Historical Society, (accessed March 22, 2018), http://www.harriet-tubman.org/songs-of-the-underground- railroad/

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He calls me by the lighting!

The trumpet sound it in my soul!

I ain’t got long to stay here!

Chorus.

Burleigh’s early connection to Howard university was through a young contralto,

Lulu Vere Childers, who was the only African American performing in the quartet of

Handel’s Messiah in 1895 at Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Later, after several appointments at other universities, Ms. Childers became the choral director at Howard

University, because of her “gifts as conductor, contralto soloist, and vocal teacher.”13

Childers was known to perform and help popularize Burleigh’s works, with the Fisk

Jubilee Singers and other choral ensembles, at the annual Atlanta Colored Music

Festival.14 As tribute to her musical contributions, the Department of Music at Howard resides in Lulu Vere Childers Hall, dedicated in 1960.

During the 1950s and forward, Burleigh’s music was a regular part of the famous

Howard University Chorale, which specialized in performing spirituals. He received an

Honorary DMA from Howard University in 1920 15, and his music continues to be popularized through the regular performances and tours of the student choirs.

Three Fanfares For Four Trumpets (1963) TRACK 12 “Moderato”

13 Jean E. Snyder, Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance, (Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2016), 177. 14 Snyder, 158.

15 Snyder, 311.

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TRACK 13 “Lento” TRACK 14 “Allegretto”

Composed by Ulysses Kay

Personnel: Chris Royal, all trumpets

Schilke P5-4 A Piccolo Trumpet, Schilke Eb trumpet with C Bell, Bach Chicago C

trumpets,

Recorded at Chris Royal Music Production Studios.

While Tromba is a longer work, the brevity of Three Fanfares for Four Trumpets lends itself to many music performances or events when short, declarative pieces are needed. It is a deceptively difficult work to perform well, I discovered, because of the three different approaches to ensemble writing. In the first movement, “Moderato,” the trumpets move primarily as one unit, chorale style writing covering a wide range in the first trumpet part. The second movement “Lento” features a more pointillistic approach where entrances are staggered to create tension. Note that the third player is the top voice in the larger chords. The third movement “Allegretto” is imitative in nature, with four independent parts that sound together only on the first and last notes of the movement.

Tromba, Suite For Bb Trumpet And Piano (1980) TRACK 15 “Prologue” TRACK 16 “Nocturne” TRACK 17 “Mobile”

Composed by Ulysses Kay

Personnel: Chris Royal, Bach Bb trumpet.

Laurie Bunn, piano

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Professor Irby wrote that he wanted to have a piece written for him and his students by an African American composer. So, in the early 1980’s when Mr. Kay was visiting

Howard, Professor Irby approached him about composing such a piece.16 The result was

Tromba, a work in three movements for Bb Trumpet and Piano. Professor Irby gave the composer instructions regarding structure: three movements- including a slow movement- a cadenza, and the specific mutes to use (the common straight mute and the not-so-common solotone mute).17

It is common for trumpet players to sometimes deviate from specified mutes in a work for musical reasons. In fact, I have heard a version of the work where cup mute is substituted for the solotone, in part because of the intonation issues inherent to solotone mutes and the better familiarity with the cup mute. Additionally, some players will purposely switch the mutes, using either the cup or solotone in the section indicated for straight mute, and vice versa. In this case, I think the composer’s mute indications, when followed, create a beautiful starkness to the melodic lines of the second movement. Thus,

I have followed Kay’s desired and indicated mute choices for the recording.

Whisper Not (1956) TRACK 18

Composed by Benny Golson

Personnel: Chris Royal, flugelhorn

Cyrus Chestnut, piano

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

16 Fred Irby, III, e-mail to author, February 15, 2018 17 Ibid.

24

Whisper Not was chosen for this project as a great example of Golson’s simplicity of form and harmonic nuance.

Benny Golson was a student in the music education area at Howard. After a negative discussion with a theory instructor, Golson left the university permanently after 3 years of study.18 He went on to a very successful career as jazz composer and innovative improvisor/ performer with a veritable “Who’s Who” of mainstream jazz ensembles, including Tad Dameron, Lionel Hampton, Dizzy Gillespie, and Art Blakey and the Jazz

Messengers, to name a few.

In 1996, Professor Irby established the annual “Benny Golson Jazz Master Award,” which has since been awarded to many jazz luminaries. And in 2009, Golson was inducted into the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame.

Arietta (1957) TRACK 19

Composed by Thomas Kerr

Adapted by Chris Royal

Personnel: Chris Royal, Schagerl Tristan Rotary Piccolo Trumpet in A

Mickey Thomas Terry, Holtkamp tracker organ

Recorded at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Washington, DC

On this work, Dr. Terry writes:

18 Gene Leeds, Cats Of Any Color: Jazz, Black And White. Boston, (Da Capo Press, 2009), 130-132.

25

The Kerr piece was submitted in a national competition sponsored by the

American Guild of Organists. Of the 150 entries, it was one of 15 compositions

selected for publication. The work first appeared in the 1957 edition of

"American Organ Music", Volume II, edited by Leslie P. Spellman. Arietta went

out of print for many years, and didn't reappear until 2000, when it appeared in

my anthology.

As for the preferred organ, Kerr wrote in a more symphonic style, so an

electrical action organ is preferable. The latter plays romantic music particularly

well. Such an instrument has broad scales voicing, which is quite the opposite of

a tracker. A tracker has narrow scales and voicing.”19

As mentioned previously, the narrow scales of the tracker will mean smaller pipes in the organ, not the lush sound of an electric action organ, which was unavailable for this recording. Still, the melody imparts a somewhat haunting quality, made more so by the choices of key centers and harmonic language. At first a lullaby; but maybe something more as the piece evolves.

“Deadly Seduction” from Macabre Suite (1982) TRACK 20

Composed by Chris Royal

Personnel: Chris Royal, Yamaha Bb flugelhorn, piano, and percussion

Gerard Kunkel, guitar

19 Mickey Thomas Terry, e-mail to author, March 24, 2018

26

Recorded at Lulu Vere Childers Recital Hall, Howard University

The piece was originally performed and recorded by the Howard University Jazz

Ensemble with a female vocalist. This version is the more intimate rendition, without the large ensemble orchestration.

The mythical sirens’ deadly song was the inspiration for this piece. The setting was that of the calm belying the deathtrap set for unsuspecting sailors who get too close to the beach. Blinded by the sirens’ song, the sailors could not see the rocks that would certainly sink their ships. The sirens’ song is enticing but also a warning; a reminder of the unseen and unforeseen that is all around us casting the illusion that all is normal.

Conclusion

Throughout its over 100 year history, Howard University has produced and attracted many talented composers. To limit this to any one genre or focus would lessen the overall impact of the music they created and the inspiration that has been a lauded part of the institution.

Composers have been connected to the university in three general ways: as students, alumni and faculty; as commissioned artists; and through the performance of their works by notable performers associated with Howard. The pieces selected for this project exemplify a wide range of musical expressions and compositional techniques, and hopefully have been presented in a way that allows the emotional impact of each piece to resonate in a unique fashion.

27

The group of works examined and set for the CD is but one example of Howard

University’s musical legacy. Additional collections of selected works of composers associated with Howard University could, and should, be created by others to further reinterpret more of this underperformed, yet highly valuable music.

28

Musical Sources

Burleigh, Harry T., arr. Steal Away. NY: G. Ricordi and Co. 1921.

Fox, Charles and Norman Gimbel. Killing Me Softly with His Song. Adapted by Roberta Flack and arranged by James M. Guthrie. SMP Press, 2017.

Golson, Benny. “Whisper Not,” in Eight Jazz Classics Volume 14. New Albany, IN: Jamey Abersold, 1979.

Hailstork, Adolphus. Meditation. 1983

Hailstork, Adolphus. Variations for Trumpet. King of Prussia, PA: Theodore PresserCo., 2004.

Kay, Ulysses. Three Fanfares for Four Trumpets. NY: Leeds Music, 1963.

Kay, Ulysses. Tromba Suite for Bb Trumpet and Piano. NY:Pembroke Music Co, Inc. 1985

Layton, Turner and Henry Creamer. After You’ve Gone. NY: Broadway Music Corp., 1918.

Randolph, Anthony. Scenes from History. 2012

Royal, Chris. “Deadly Seduction” from Macabre Suite. Washington: Royark Music, 1982.

Terry, Mickey Thomas, ed. African-American Organ Music Anthology Volume 1. Fenton, MO: MorningStar Music Pub., 2000.

Tillis, Frederick. Spiritual Fantasy No. 1 for Piccolo-Trumpet and Piano 1980. NY: American Composers Alliance Facsimile Edition, 2007.

29

Appendices

Appendix I. Other Notable Alumni Composers20

Geri Allen, B.M. ’79

Shelton Beckton B.M ’86

Arphelius Paul Gatling

Leroy Hutsun

Wallace Roney B.M ’93

Richard Smallwood B.M ’71

Damien Sneed B.M ’01

Harold Wheeler B.M ‘64

20 Alumni, Howard University Department of Music. (accessed February 20, 2018, http://coas.howard.edu/music/alumni/index.html)

30

Appendix II. Recording Information

As the recording aspect was a major part of this project, the details of the production are also important to document. Equipment used for the recording:

(6) Royer R-122 active ribbon microphones

(2) AKG C414 ULS condenser microphones

(1) Neumann TLM 49 condenser microphone

(1) 8 channel Millenia HV3D microphone preamplifier

(12) Monster SP1000 microphone and interconnect cables

(1) Apogee Symphony MkII Analog-to Digital/ Digital-to-Analog Convertor- 16

channels- with Thunderbolt connection to:

(1) Apple iMac computer running Digital Performer 9.51 software with Altiverb

and UAD software.

The primary equipment involved utilized a similar setup in each space:

The microphones of choice were pairs of Royer R-122 active ribbon microphones for each instrument and secondary microphones were AKG C414ULS type for the bell of the trumpet or flugelhorn. Pairs of the AKG C414’s (set to omnidirectional) along with pairs of the Royer R-122’s were used to capture the low frequencies of the organ. The single

Royer SF-24 was used at a distance to capture room and early- mid reflections A single

Neumann TLM 49 was used for vocal capture. All microphones were routed into

Millenia HV3D preamplifiers via Monster SP1000 studio cable to Apogee Symphony

MkII digital convertors running at 96k samples per second @ 24 bits wordlength.

31

Processing in the digital audio workstation (DAW) was done by Mark of the

Unicorn Digital Performer 9.51 at 96k samples per second @ 32 bits floating wordlength, to provide even higher resolution. This setup tended to capture the performances very truthfully and consistently without sounding sterile.

I feel that using many pairs of microphones tends to capture sonic and emotional information, often lost when limited to using single spot microphones. My study with

Bruce Swedien21 has imprinted a strong appreciation for the recording of stereo images to capture performances. Bruce wrote that he relies on the use stereo recording techniques, simply because of the “emotional impact of true stereo images in music.”22 After watching him and listening to his work I became a believer. And hopefully as a result, the listener of this project will be able to appreciate the music more easily, even without being aware of the technologies and methods used.

The use of multiple microphones has only one downside- the number of tracks increases. For example, to record Kay’s Three Fanfares for Four Trumpets required 12 audio tracks, as three microphones were used for each trumpet part (split pair in the front and one facing the middle side of the bell by the valves.) This configuration tends to minimize the harshness of the trumpet, even at very loud volumes.

In fact, I discovered that this type of multi-microphone microphone placement for trumpet recording was already being used specifically for the recordings of trumpet soloists Alison Balsom and Tine Thing Helseth. Both artists employ the same producer

21 Bruce Swedien has been the principal recording engineer for Fritz Reiner/ Chicago Symphony recordings, all the way through the majority of Quincy Jones’ productions, including Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” to name a few of credits. 22 Bruce Swedien, Make Mine Music, (New York: Hal Leonard, 2009), 42.

32

and engineer, Jørn Pedersen, who confirmed the basic 3-microphone setup for larger trumpets; and for the piccolo trumpet his team uses additional mics on both sides of the bell to avoid the harshness on Ms. Balsom and Ms. Helseth’s recordings.23 Videos of their recording reveal as many as 7 microphones used simultaneously to record the smallest trumpets. For this project, however, I found satisfactory results by simply adjusting placement of the original 3-microphone setup.

23 Jørn Pedersen, e-mail message to author, December 17, 2017.

33

Appendix III. Composers’ Biographies

Harry T. Burleigh

Although his name is relatively unknown, Harry Thacker Burleigh (named

Henry after his father) played a significant role in the development of American

art song, having composed over two hundred works in the genre. He was the first

African-American composer acclaimed for his concert songs as well as for his

adaptations of African-American spirituals. In addition, Burleigh was an

accomplished baritone, a meticulous editor, and a charter member of the

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).

Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on 2 December 1866, Burleigh received his

first music training from his mother. After discovering Burleigh's musical talent,

Elizabeth Russell, a bank messenger who was his mother's employer, gave the

youth a job as a doorman at the musicales she hosted in her home. This afforded

Burleigh the opportunity to hear guest performers such as Teresa Carreño and

Italo Campanini. Although he had no formal training, his talent as a singer led to

employment as a soloist in several Erie churches and synagogues. In 1892, at the

age of twenty-six, Burleigh received a scholarship (with some intervention in his

behalf from Mrs. Frances MacDowell, mother of famed American composer

Edward MacDowell) to the National Conservatory of Music in New York where

he studied with Christian Fritsch, Rubin Goldmark, John White, and Max Spicker.

The years Burleigh spent at the Conservatory greatly influenced his career,

mostly due to his association and friendship with Antonín Dvorák, the

Conservatory's director. After spending countless hours recalling and performing

34

the African-American spirituals and plantation songs he had learned from his maternal grandfather for Dvorák, Burleigh was encouraged by the elder composer to preserve these melodies in his own compositions. In turn, Dvorák's use of the spirituals "Goin' Home" and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" in his Symphony no. 9 in E minor ("From the New World") was probably influenced by his sessions with

Burleigh. In addition, Burleigh served as copyist for Dvorák, a task that prepared him for his future responsibilities as a music editor.

In 1894, Burleigh auditioned for the post of soloist at St. George's

Episcopal Church of New York. To the consternation of the congregation, which objected because Burleigh was black, he was given the position. However, through his talent and dedication (he held the appointment for over fifty years, missing only one performance during his tenure), Burleigh won the hearts and the respect of the entire church community.

Personally and professionally, the next several years were productive ones for Burleigh. In 1898, he married poet Louise Alston; a son, Alston, was born the following year. That same year, G. Schirmer published his first three songs. In

1900, Burleigh was the first African-American chosen as soloist at Temple

Emanu-El, a New York synagogue, and by 1911 he was working as an editor for music publisher G. Ricordi. His success was enhanced through the publication of several of his compositions, including "Ethiopia Saluting the Colors" (1915), a collection entitled Jubilee Songs of the USA (1916), and his arrangement of

"Deep River" (1917), for which he is best remembered.

35

The widespread success of his setting of Deep River (1917) inspired the

publication of nearly a dozen more spirituals the same year. The settings appeared

in multiple versions upon publication, including vocal solos in a variety of keys

and choral arrangements prepared by Burleigh and others for mixed chorus, men's

chorus, and women's chorus. As his spiritual arrangements become increasingly

popular with concert soloists, a tradition of concluding concerts with a set of

spirituals was established.

Burleigh's achievement in solo vocal writing is best represented by his original

song cycles, Saracen Songs (1914), Passionale (1915), and Five Songs of

Laurence Hope (1915), considered by many to be his finest work. His

instrumental output includes the unpublished Six Plantation Melodies for violin

and piano (1901), From the Southland for piano (1910), and Southland Sketches

for violin and piano (1916).

Burleigh died at age 82 on 12 September 1949. Over 2,000 mourners

attended the funeral of the man who had successfully combined the melodies of

his own heritage with those of serious art music. Burleigh's compositions and

arrangements of African-American spirituals transported the music of the

"colored folk" from their plantation and minstrel settings onto the concert stage,

where they have been enjoyed and appreciated by people of all races.24

Mark Fax (1911-1974)

24 From “H.T. Burleigh.” Biographies from Library of Congress Online. (accessed March 22, 2018. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035730)

36

A native of Baltimore. He received a B.M. in Piano from Syracuse

University (1933), the M.M. in Composition from Eastman School of Music, and

attended New York University. Fax joined the faculty of Howard University in

1947 where he served as Professor of Composition. He later became Assistant to

the Dean of Fine Arts prior to his appointment as Acting Dean of Fine Arts, and

finally as Director of the School of Music. Fax wrote choral and symphonic

works, songs, piano and organ pieces, and operas. Among his compositions are: A

Christmas Miracle, ‘Til Victory Is Won, Toccatina, Three Pieces For Piano, and

Only Dreams.25

Charles Fox

Born and raised in New York City, graduated from the High School of

Music and Art, and continued his formal musical education and composition

studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He studied jazz-piano with Lenny Tristano

and electronic music with Vladimir Ussachevsky at Columbia University. He

began his career playing the piano, composing and arranging for such salsa

legends as Ray Barretto, Joe Quijano and Tito Puente, as well as writing theme

music and arrangements for Skitch Henderson and the Tonight Show Orchestra.

Charles has composed the music for hundreds of songs. Most of them

have been recorded for records, motion pictures and TV. Among the many

legendary and diverse recording artists who have recorded his songs are Roberto

Flack, Sarah Vaughn, Barry Manilow, Jim Croce, Fred Astaire, Luther Vandross,

25 Holly, Ellistine Perkins. Biographies of Black Composers and Songwriters; A Supplementary Textbook. Iowa:Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1990.

37

Johnny Cash, Lena Horne, George Shearing, The Boston Pops, Jack Jones, Tito

Puente, Goldie Hawn, Carly Simon, Johnny Mathis, Shirley Bassey, Crystal

Gayle, Lori Lieberman, Sergio Mendes, Maureen McGovern, Olivia Newton

John, Lauryn Hill & The Fugees, and Ice T.

Among his works for theater, in collaboration with lyricist Norman

Gimbel, are “The Eleventh”, starring Shelly Berman, and “A Midsummer Night's

Dream” starring Cleavon Little and Mare Winningham. In collaboration with Hal

David, he has composed the musicals “The Chosen” based on the book by Chaim

Potok, and “The Turning Point” based on that 20th Century Fox film. Other song collaborators include Paul Williams, Bob Crewe, David Zippel, Sammy Cahn,

Carly Simon, Carole Bayer Sager and Marilyn and Alan Bergman.

He has composed the musical scores for over 100 motion pictures and television films including “Barbarella”, “Nine to Five”, “Goodbye Columbus”, and “Foul Play” for which he received one of his two Academy Award nominations. The other was for the film “The Other Side of the Mountain”.

Among his popular songs are "Ready to Take a Chance Again," "I Got a Name," and "Killing Me Softly with His Song," for which he received the Grammy

Award for Best Song of the year. His TV shows and theme songs include “The

Love Boat”, “Happy Days”, “Laverne and Shirley”, “Wonder Woman”, “The

Paper Chase”, “Wide World of Sports”, “Monday Night Football” and “Love

American Style, for which he received two Emmy Awards.

In addition to his popular works, Charles has composed music for the concert hall and ballet. His ballet “A Song for Dead Warriors” originally

38

composed for the San Francisco Ballet and continuing in the repertoire of The

Dance Theater of Harlem, was most recently performed in London at the Sadler

Wells Theatre. His ballet, Zorro! premiered in San Francisco with the Smuin

Ballet Company in 2003.

In August, 2009, Charles conducted the Poland National Opera Company

Chorus and Orchestra in a performance of his Oratorio, “Lament and Prayer” at the Warsaw Opera House. The work was based on the words of Pope John Paul

II. In August 2010, he conducted the world premiere of his “Fantasie, Homage a

Chopin” which he was commissioned to compose by the Polish Government to honor the 200th birthday of Chopin. Charles conducted the performance featuring the great Polish pianist, Leszek Mozdzer and the great American clarinetist, Eddie

Daniels, along with the Akusa Orchestra in Gdansk, Poland for an audience of

22,000 people as part of a 30th year celebration of the Solidarity Movement. He has conducted symphony orchestras performing his music in Budapest, Prague,

Poland, Caracas, London, Israel and Tokyo as well as in the US.

Charles was inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame in 2004. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement awards from the Society of Composers and

Lyricists and BMI and is a Governor of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and

Sciences.

Since 2008, he has produced an annual concert benefitting the Fulfillment

Fund, an organization that mentors and provides scholarships for students in economically challenged areas of Los Angeles. The concert, entitled “The Songs of Our Lives” has presented some of the legendary songwriters of the second half

39

of the 20th century performing their own songs. Some of the great songwriters

who have appeared in this concert are Burt Bacharach, Jeffy Barry, Carole Bayer-

Sager, Alan Bergman, Stephen Bishop, Bob Crewe, David Crosby, Hal David,

Mac Davis, Lamont Dozier, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, David Foster, Norman

Gimbel, Leiber & Stoller, Kenny Loggins, Melissa Manchester, Sergio Mendes,

Neil Sedaka, Richard Sherman, Paul Williams and Bill Withers. “The Songs Of

Our Lives” is currently being developed into a TV series.26

Benny Golson

American bebop/hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger.

He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy

Gillespie, more as a writer than a performer, before launching his solo career.

Golson is known for co-founding and co-leading The Jazztet with trumpeter Art

Farmer in 1959. From the late 1960s through the 1970s Golson was in demand as

an arranger for film and television and thus was less active as a performer, but he

and Farmer reformed the Jazztet in 1982. Several of Golson's songs have become

jazz standards, including "Blues March", "Whisper Not", "I Remember Clifford",

and "Killer Joe".

26 “Biography.” Charles Fox Music. (accessed March 24, 2018, http://www.charlesfoxmusic.com/bio.html_)

40

Multitalented and internationally famous jazz legend, - a composer, arranger, lyricist, producer - and tenor saxophonist of world note, Benny Golson was born in Philadelphia, PA on January 25, 1929.

Raised with an impeccable musical pedigree, Golson has played in the bands of world famous Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Earl Bostic and

Art Blakey.

Few jazz musicians can claim to be true innovators and even fewer can boast of a performing and recording career that literally redefines the term "jazz". Benny

Golson has made major contributions to the world of jazz with such jazz standards as: Killer Joe, I Remember Clifford, Along Came Betty, Stablemates, Whisper Not,

Blues March, Five Spot After Dark, Are you Real? Benny Golson is the only living jazz artist to have written 8 standards for jazz repertoire.

These jazz standards have found their way into countless recordings internationally over the years and are still being recorded. He has recorded over 30 albums for many recording companies in the United States and Europe under his own name and innumerable ones with other major artists. A prodigious writer,

Golson has written well over 300 compositions.

For more than 60 years, Golson has enjoyed an illustrious, musical career in which he has not only made scores of recordings but has also composed and arranged music for:

Count Basie, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Mama Cass Elliott,

Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Shirley Horn,

David Jones and the Monkees, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Anita

41

O'Day, Itzhak Perlman, Oscar Peterson, Lou Rawls, Mickey Rooney, Diana Ross,

The Animals (Eric Burden), Mel Torme, George Shearing, Dusty Springfield.

His prolific writing includes scores for hit TV series and films: M*A*S*H,

Mannix, Mission Impossible, Mod Squad, Room 222, Run for Your Life, The

Partridge Family, The Academy Awards, The Karen Valentine Show, Television specials for ABC, CBS and NBC. Television specials for BBC in London and

Copenhagen, Denmark. Theme for Bill Cosby's last TV show, A french film 'Des

Femmes Disparaissent" (Paris).

He has written music for national radio and television spots for some of the major advertising agencies in the country. Some of these commercials were for:

Borateem, Canada Dry, Carnation, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Clorox, Dodge, General

Telephone, Gillette, Heinz Foods, Jack in The Box, Liquid Plum'r, MacDonald's,

Mattel Toys, Monsanto, Nissan, Ohrbachs, Ore-Ida Frozen Potatoes, Parliament

Cigarettes, Pepsi Cola, Texaco.

Benny Golson has absolute mastery of the jazz medium. He has not only blazed a trail in the world of jazz but is passionate about teaching jazz to young and old alike. He has lectured at the Lincoln Center through a special series by Wynton

Marsalis. He has lectured to doctoral candidates at New York University and to the faculty at National University at San Diego.

Honored with doctorates from William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ and

Berklee School of Music, Boston, MA, Dr. Golson has also conducted workshops and clinics at:

42

Appalachian University, Boone, NC, Berklee School of Music, Boston,

MA, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY, Howard University, Washington,

DC, Julliard, School of Music, New York, NY, Manhattan School of Music, New

York, NY, New England Conservatory, Paris Conservatory, Paris, France, Rutgers

University, New Orleans, LA, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, University of

Denver, Denver, CO, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, University of Pittsburgh,

Pittsburgh, PA, Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, Appleton, WI,

William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ

Golson's musical odyssey has taken him around the world. In 1987 he was

sent by the US State Department on a cultural tour of Southeast Asia, New Zealand,

Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, Singapore. Later, Philip Morris International sent him

on an assignment to Bangkok, Thailand to write music for the Bangkok Symphony

Orchestra.

A live performer who consistently knocks audiences off their feet, Benny

Golson has given hundreds of performances in the USA, Europe, South America,

the Far East and Japan for decades.

Benny is also working on a major college textbook and his autobiography

This humble musical giant continues to impress critics, fans and fellow musicians

with his prodigious contributions to the world of jazz.27

Adolphus Hailstork

27 “Artist Profile.” Benny Golson.com. (accessed March 23, 2018, http://www.bennygolson.com/artist-profile.html

43

Received his doctorate in composition from Michigan State University, where he was a student of H. Owen Reed. He had previously studied at the

Manhattan School of Music, under Vittorio Giannini and David Diamond, at the

American Institute at Fontainebleau with Nadia Boulanger, and at Howard

University with Mark Fax.

Dr. Hailstork has written numerous works for chorus, solo voice, piano, organ, various chamber ensembles, band, and orchestra.

Significant performances by major orchestras (Philadelphia, Chicago, and

New York) have been conducted by leading conductors such as James de Priest,

Paul Freeman Daniel Barenboim, Kurt Masur, Lorin Maezel, Jo Ann Falletta and

David Lockington.

Recent commissions include RISE FOR FREEDOM, an opera about the

Underground Railroad, premiered in the fall of 2007 by the Cincinnati Opera

Company, SET ME ON A ROCK (re: Hurricane Katrina), for chorus and orchestra, commissioned by the Houston Choral Society (2008), and the choral ballet, THE GIFT OF THE MAGI, for treble chorus and orchestra, (2009). In the fall of 2011, ZORA, WE’RE CALLING YOU, a work for speaker and orchestra was premiered by the Orlando Symphony. I SPEAK OF PEACE commissioned by the Bismarck Symphony (Beverly Everett, conductor) in honor of (and featuring the words of) President John F. Kennedy was premiered in November of

2013.

Hailstork’s newest major works, are ROBESON, an operatic theater work

(written for the Trilogy Opera Company of Newark, New Jersey), and

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HERCULES (“the veriest dandy slave”) a concert overture for the Grand Rapids

Symphony which was premiered in October 2014. Current projects are BOUND

FOR THE PROMISED LAND for the Atlanta Festival (November 2016) and

NDEMARA for the Myrelinques Festival of France (May 2017).

Dr. Hailstork resides in Virginia Beach Virginia, and is Professor of Music

and Eminent Scholar at Old Dominion University in Norfolk.28

Ulysses Kay

Ulysses Simpson Kay (born Jan. 7, 1917, Tucson, Ariz., U.S.—died May

20, 1995, Englewood, N.J.) American composer, a prominent representative of

the neoclassical school.

A nephew of the New Orleans jazz trumpeter King Oliver, Kay played

jazz saxophone as a boy and later turned to piano, violin, and composition. After

receiving his B.A. at the University of Arizona (1938), he studied at the Eastman

School of Music (M.A., 1940), Yale University (with composer Paul Hindemith),

Columbia University, and the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, Mass.

After World War II Kay settled in New York and produced works for

chamber ensemble (Suite for Strings, 1947), orchestra (Concerto, 1948), and film

(The Quiet One, 1949). From 1968 to 1988 he was a professor of music at

Lehman College of the City University of New York.

Kay’s music is characterized by melodic lyricism and tonal orientation

(i.e., organized around a given tone as a focal point) supplemented by

28 “Adolphus Hailstork.” Composers at Theodore Presser Company. (accessed March 22, 2018. https://www.presser.com/composer/hailstork-adolphus/)

45

chromaticism (use of all tones of the chromatic scale, whether or not they belong

to a particular key). In his later works he also used quartal harmony, or chords

built of tones a fourth apart, rather than the usual third. His works include many

film and television scores, among them his notable Essay on Death (1964), a

tribute to President John F. Kennedy. Besides large orchestral works, including

the Symphony (1967) and Southern Harmony (1975), Kay wrote chamber music,

choral works such as the cantata Song of Jeremiah (1945), organ and piano music,

short band pieces, and five operas: The Boor (1955), The Juggler of Our Lady

(1956), The Capitoline Venus (1970), Jubilee (1976), and Frederick Douglass

(1991).29

Thomas H. Kerr, Jr.

Born on January 3, 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. Kerr was raised in a

musical family. His father, Thomas Henderson Kerr, Sr., was a famous orchestra

leader and composer. From a young age, Kerr played the piano, even teaching

himself how to play the organ. At the age of 14, he was playing for churches and

in nightclubs. He attended Douglass High School, whose famous alumni also

include composer Mark Fax, jazz singer and bandleader Cab Calloway, and

soprano Anne Brown, who originated the role of Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and

Bess.

Following high school, Kerr dreamed of attending the Peabody

Conservatory in Baltimore, but African American students were not admitted

29 “Ulysses Kay.” Composers at Carl Fischer Music. (accessed March 22, 2018. https://www.carlfischer.com/composer/kay-ulysses/

46

during that period of time. Instead, he attended Howard University for one year

before continuing his musical studies at the Eastman School of Music in

Rochester. At Eastman, he completed his Bachelor of Music degree in piano and

theory, as well as his Master's degree in theory.

Kerr began composing music while was a member of the music faculty at

Knoxville College in Tennessee. In 1943, he returned to Howard University as a

Professor of Piano and the Chairman of the Piano Department. He remained at

Howard University until his retirement in 1976, after more than 30 years as a

member of the faculty.

On August 26, 1988, Kerr was hit by a car in Adelphi, Maryland. In a

statement issued by the county’s police department, it was reported the driver had

a green light when he stuck Kerr. It was theorized that Kerr may not have been

able to see the light change due to his cataracts. He was taken to the Washington

Hospital Center where he died at the age of 73.

At the time of his death, Kerr had composed more than one hundred

pieces, including works for piano, voice, organ, choir, and chamber ensembles.

He had even begun composing an opera that was never completed about the life

of Frederick Douglass. He was also the recipient of the Rosenwald Fellowship for

Composition in 1942 as well as the first-place prize of the Composers and

Authors of America Contest in 1944.30

Turner Layton (1894 - 1978)

30 Jasmine Mould, “Thomas H. Kerr,” Song of America. (accessed March 23, 2018. http://www.songofamerica.net/composer/kerr-thomas-h)

47

Best remembered for the songs that he wrote with lyricist Henry Creamer:

“After You’ve Gone” (1918), “Dear Old Southland” (1921), “Way Down Yonder

in New Orleans” (1922), which was one of the dance numbers in the

Astaire/Rogers film, “The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle” (1939), and ”Whoa,

Tillie” (1923) which was popularized by Bessie Smith.

Layton was a composer, vocalist, music publisher, and an accomplished

pianist. The pair’s vaudeville act, for which they wrote all of the material, toured

the U.S. and Europe. They also wrote a couple of short-lived Broadway shows

before their success with Strut Miss Lizzie in 1922.

In 1924 the elegant and urbane, as he is generally described, Layton

moved to England where he was well received. He formed a singing duo with

Clarence Johnstone for which he played piano, and they performed throughout

England. When Johnstone left England in 1935, Layton continued a successful

solo career into the ‘60s. He died in London. 31

Anthony W. Randolph

(DMA, The Catholic University of America 2006, MM, Howard

University 1988, BM, Howard University 1982) is a composer, pianist, and music

historian with extensive teaching experience at the university and primary levels.

Dr. Randolph has served on the music faculty of the Benjamin T. Rome School of

Music at The Catholic University of America, and is currently Associate

Professor of Music at Howard University.

31Sandra Burlingame. “Turner Layton.” Naxos.com (accessed March 25, 2018. https://www.naxos.com/person/J__Turner_Layton/20375.htm)

48

Recent compositions by Dr. Randolph include Requiem Mass for the

African-American Slave for orchestra, chorus, and soloists, Baghdad, the Day

After, for orchestra, muezzin, and audio CD, How Long, O Lord, an electronic composition and video compilation chronicling the struggles of African-

Americans from the slave trade to the present, as well as multiple chamber works.

A 2005 commissioned composition, titled Songs of the Forgotten War, was a group commission inspired by the Korean War Memorial in Washington,

DC. Dr. Randolph was on of the nineteen composers commissioned to reflect upon, and compose a one-minute composition on one of the nineteen bronze soldiers of the memorial. Songs of the Forgotten War had its world premiere at

The Catholic University of America in spring 2005 as the third of the four-part

President's Concert, "Waging Peace: Making Music in Time of War." Songs of the Forgotten War was a feature piece on WAMU radio's "Metro Connection" in summer 2005, and received a second performance at the Kennedy Center's

Millennium Stage, August 2005, with both performances favorably reviewed by the Washington Post. Other commissions include To Do Battle in the Land, The

John Brown Story, a documentary film on the life of abolitionist John Brown for the United States Parks Department, Harper's Ferry National Park, Harper's Ferry,

WV. To Do Battle in the Land was recorded by the Howard University Concert

Choir and instrumentalists under the direction of J. Weldon Norris.

Fanfare, a composition for orchestra and chorus by Dr. Randolph, was premiered by the Catholic University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at the

Annual Christmas Concert under the direction of Leo Nestor, at The Basilica of

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the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, DC, December

2003. The concert was broadcast on The Eternal World Television Network and

on Howard University Television, WHUT. Dr. Randolph is a member of The

American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP), The College

Music Society, and The American Composers Forum. He served as Interim Chair

of the Department of Music for the 2014-2015 Academic Year, and was

appointed Chair in August 2015.32

Chris Royal

Began his Trumpet and Orchestration studies at Peabody Conservatory of

Music and Oberlin College Conservatory. Earned his Bachelor of Music, and

Master of Music degrees at Howard University, studying arranging with Reppard

Stone. Royal is winner of multiple Downbeat Magazine College Awards for

Extended Composition, Jazz Arranging, Jazz Improvisation.

Professor Royal has performed on trumpet in concert and/or televised

performances and recordings with Henry Mancini, the Duke Ellington Orchestra

under Mercer Ellington, Whitney Houston, Lionel Hampton, the Temptations,

Johnny Mathis, Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Barbra Streisand, Donnie

McClurkin, Petula Clark, Dionne Warwick and many others. Mr. Royal continues

to be active as a freelance trumpet performer for musicals, recordings, and

concerts in many different genres.

32 “Anthony Randolph.” Howard University Department of Music (accessed March 12, 2018. http://coas.howard.edu/music/facstaff/full-time/randolph.html)

50

His many theatrical credits include "Five Guys Named Moe," "Grease,"

"The Hot Mikado," International tours as lead trumpet with Duke Ellington’s

"Sophisticated Ladies," and "The Gospel at Colonus" (Original Broadway cast and recording).

Artist-in-Residence for the Smithsonian Institution's "The Music of Louis

Armstrong and the Hot Five/Seven 1926-1931." Featured soloist with the

Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the

Peabody Ragtime Ensemble, the Baltimore Jazz Orchestra, and the Soulful

Symphony.

Mr. Royal composed and arranged music for the 1996 Summer Olympic

Games and the TV series "America's Most Wanted," as well as many theatrical and recording productions, such as the Helen Hayes Award winning production of

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Best Ensemble Production) at the Catalyst

Theatre in Washington, DC. A second collaboration with Catalyst produced the critically acclaimed Roundheads and Peakheads in which he again composed all new music. He also composed and performed music for the opening session of the

Nancy Hanks Lecture on the Arts honoring Ken Burns.

Mr. Royal is also in demand as a studio arranger and as an independent audio recording, mixing, and mastering engineer. Mr. Royal holds active memberships in The American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the Audio

Engineering Society (AES), the American Society of Composers, Authors, and

51

Publishers (ASCAP), NARAS (The Grammy Foundation), and MENC: The

National Association for Music Education.33

Frederick Charles Tillis

Composer, and poet, Frederick Tillis was born in Galveston, Texas on

January 5, 1930. He is a graduate of Wiley College and received his M.A. and

Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Iowa. His catalog includes

more than 125 compositions and commissions, spanning both jazz and classical

European traditions in various media - orchestral, jazz, instrumental, choral,

chamber music, and vocal works. Melodic and harmonic textures reflect elements

of various musics of the world, including Asian and Western cultures, as well as

natural outgrowths of his ethnic and cultural background.

Tillis' music is performed nationally and abroad. Among his

commissioned compositions are "A Symphony of Songs," a choral/orchestral

work based on poems by Wallace Stevens and commissioned by The Hartford

Chorale, Inc. (1999); "A Festival Journey," (1992) and "Ring Shout Concerto,"

(1974) for percussion, written for Max Roach and premiered by Max Roach and

symphony orchestra; and "Concerto for Piano" (Jazz Trio) and symphony

orchestra (1983) written for Billy Taylor and performed with the Springfield

Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Tillis has been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including

the 1997 Commonwealth Award from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and an

33 “Chris Royal,” Howard University Department of Music, (accessed March 12, 2018. http://coas.howard.edu/music/facstaff/full-time/royal.html)

52

award for outstanding service from the International Association of Jazz

Educators. As Professor of Music at the University of Massachusetts, he taught

music composition and a survey course in the history of Afro-American Music &

Musicians. Active as a jazz saxophonist, he has traveled with the Tillis-Holmes

Jazz Duo and the Tradewinds Jazz Ensemble to Australia, Austria, Belgium,

China, England, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg,

Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the former Soviet Union,

Switzerland, and Turkey.

In addition, he recently visited the University of Fort Hare in South Africa,

served as a Master Artist in residence at the Akiyoshidai International Art Village

in Yamaguchi, Japan and conducted a three-week residency on behalf of the

United States Information Agency at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok,

Thailand in 1991 to help the school establish a major in jazz.

Dr. Tillis has published seven books of poetry: In the Spirit and the Flesh,

Images of Mind and Heart, In Celebration, Of Moons, Moods, Myths, and the

Muse, Harlem Echoes, Children's Corner: From A to Z, Seasons, Symbols, and

Stones, Akiyoshidai Diary, Scattered Ghosts & Southern Winds, Bittersweet

Harvests, Breaking Dawn & Healing, The Nature of Things: Human and

Otherwise, and Beginning Again.34

34 “Frederick C Tillis,” American Composers Alliance (accessed March 22, 2018. https://composers.com/frederick-tillis)

53

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“Chris Royal.” Howard University Department of Music. Accessed January 29, 2018. http://coas.howard.edu/music/facstaff/full-time/royal.html

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